India asks China to follow Astana consensus

New Delhi, July 27 (UNI) Faced with continued aggressive statements from China over the Doklam Stand off, India today said Beijing should not digress from its commitment made in Astana in June for peaceful resolution of all disputes.

The consensus arrived at between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jin Ping at Astana on the sidelines of the SCO Summit on June 8 would continue to guide India’s approach to the resolution of the dispute, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said here.

His remarks came in reply to a question asked by a Chinese journalist who wanted Indian response to their Foreign Minister Wany Yi’s demand for unconditional withdrawal of troops from Doklam for any meaningful talks to begin.

Mr Baglay underscored that there were two components of Astana consensus.

One was that India-China relations were significant not only bilaterally but for the region and the whole world and were a factor of stability, and the other was that they should resolve their differences through peaceful means and not let them turn into disputes.